O.U.R. Children’s Safety Project:
At Home and Abroad
By Sara Kennedy, H&V HQ
Typically the O.U.R. Project takes advantage of regrouping over the summer, but not this year. Poppy Steel had the opportunity to share with Kentucky System of Care providers about abuse and neglect in June. Also, Hands & Voices had the opportunity to share a plenary session at the Family Centered Early Intervention (FCEI) Conference in Bad Ischl, Austria on June 13on the topic of Keeping Our Youngest Kids Safe: Bringing the O.U.R. Project Homeby the team of Catherine Corr, Ph.D., University of Illinois and Sara Kennedy, O.U.R. Project core committee member. Members of the Global Parents of Deaf/hard of hearing kids (GPODHH) and conference attendees from Uganda to Australia, Canada to South Africa attended. Most were teams of one or two parents from NGO (Non-governmental organizations or nonprofits) cobbling together supports for families where there might be little to no support after newborn hearing screening. We shared about the health risks of Adverse Child Experiences or the ACES study from Kaiser Permanente, and the importance of building parent to parent connections with professional collaboration to strengthen protective factors that are known to keep kids safe from abuse and neglect. We discussed simple things that moms and dads can do to reinforce safety skills and bolster self-esteem with children who are deaf/hard of hearing. Many shared that they saw a need for “safeguarding” kids from harm, particularly those who were late identified and had few opportunities for true education and meaningful work. It was a rich and open discussion among disparate cultures; but at the heart of it was the care of parents for their own children and children like them. We have reached out to several country representatives following this training and look for more to come from “across the pond” as the impact of the O.U.R. Children’s Safety Project grows.
Next, H&V was the recipient of a meaningful grant from the LLL Foundation (Love Like Lija) to produce O.U.R. Project story quilts to share with parents, professionals, and at social and educational events. Colorado and California were the first to express interest in the project with a deadline at Leadership to show something tangible to attendees. Both chapters have hosted discussions about the quilt block design and Board members and volunteers have stepped forward. One more quilt project could be awarded (Attention, Chapters!) We look forward to seeing the finished quilts and incorporating them into the O.U.R. Project Display kits that travel the country on request from HQ and seeing them at local and statewide events.
Finally, Christen Nolfi, Chresta Brinkman, Kellie Berger and Sara Kennedy presented an update at the Leadership Conference and proposed creating a Parent Safety Toolkit, a document that would share principles and strategies with parents in a pdf form. That presentation will be very useful to new parent leaders and will be available online.
We will kick off our monthly teleconference call and another season of the Vook (Virtual Book) Club starting October 9. Please contact janet@handsandvoices.org to be included in our community of learners and join our action-oriented members of this project in improving the lives of our children who are Deaf/Hard of Hearing. Past presentations from these calls are available online at: http://www.handsandvoices.org/resources/OUR/index.htm “See” you on the call the second Tuesday of each month. Vook Club’s schedule will be announced.
*What is O.U.R. Children Safety Project – (Observe, Understand, and Respond)?
Hands & Voices has created a Community of Learners, comprised of parents, family members and professionals, to explore and develop activities that will work to increase the safety and success of children who are deaf or hard of hearing. This welcoming and inclusive community of learners values participation from Hands & Voices leadership including GBYS and ASTra program staff. Through discussion and critical reflection, the group focuses on issues to increase awareness and understanding surrounding prevention of child maltreatment for deaf, hard of hearing and deaf plus children. Together, members of O.U.R. identify and determine action steps that support others in their own communities that serve to observe and respond to instances of abuse, neglect and bullying, as well as cohesively work to enhance policies for prevention within the systems of care serving D/HH children and families. The O.U.R Children Safety Project incorporates the foundation and mission of Hands & Voices, and as such guides the message of prevention throughout Hands & Voices state and provincial chapters in order to carry out the work that enables deaf, hard of hearing and deaf plus children to reach their highest potential. ~